Posts belonging to Category Securities/Commodities Arbitration

If your broker or financial adviser told you he was moving to another brokerage firm and asked you to move your account there, would you want to know if he was being paid thousands or millions of dollars to make the move? The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) thinks so, and is proposing a new […]

When a securities brokerage firm sues to collect the balance due under a promissory note from one of its brokers, the securities industry often views the case as close as one can get to a “slam dunk” case for the firm. When UBS Financial Services sued former brokers James Kirwin and Joanne Meninger for amounts […]

According to financial advisers, do not be fooled by the recent market in stocks into believing that we are in for a continuing period of sustained low volatility. Those advisers want you to expect lots of volatility and market corrections and to invest accordingly. In light of the foregoing, investors should adopt alternative investment strategies […]

Stockton, California, the most recent U.S. city to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection, has presented serious issues about whether municipal bondholders will be forced to take a “haircut” while Stockton pensioners do not. With 300,000 residents, Stockton is the largest U.S. city in history to file bankruptcy. Stockton has total outstanding debt of over […]

OppenheimerFunds Inc. has agreed to pay more than $35 million to settle SEC charges that it made misleading statements about two of its mutual funds during the credit crisis in late 2008. The payments include a penalty of $24 million, disgorgement of $9,879,706, and prejudgment interest of $1,487,190. According to the SEC, Oppenheimer used total […]

Rising interest rates may be death to traditional bonds and bond funds, but a number of alternative investment strategies allegedly designed to protect principal in a rising interest rate environment are springing up to take their place. It remains to be seen whether they will provide ballast when bond prices fall. For decades, bond investors […]

Swiss banking giant UBS AG is reported to be engaged in settlement discussions with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regarding its structuring and underwriting of an allegedly fraudulent mortgage bond deal. The SEC has alleged that UBS defrauded clients that invested over $748 million in notes linked to a CDO known as ACA ABS […]

Anastasios “Tommy” Belesis, owner of John Thomas Financial, a brokerage firm, and George R. Jarkesy Jr., a hedge fund manager, worked together to defraud investors in the John Thomas Bridge and Opportunity Fund LP I and John Thomas Bridge and Opportunity Fund LP II, according to a recently filed SEC complaint. The funds reportedly invested […]